


The Missing Piece

by keenwonderlandcollector, starkersoupmates, starkerswonderland



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: (ridiculously) slow burn, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Smut (?), Starker, ballet dancer Peter, idiots to lovers, single dad tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29425554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keenwonderlandcollector/pseuds/keenwonderlandcollector, https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkersoupmates/pseuds/starkersoupmates, https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkerswonderland/pseuds/starkerswonderland
Summary: Peter came to New York to take the next step in his career as a ballet dancer.But a new start is never easy and to afford living in this beautiful but expensive town, Peter takes a job as a ballet teacher in a little dancing school.This is where he meets cute Morgan Stark and her much too handsome father Tony.And suddenly, his career is not all that matters anymore - there is just one problem.How does one get out of the friendzone?
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 97





	1. A new beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day to all our adorable readers!  
> Liv and I are extremely excited to finally publish our first collaboration.  
> We hope that you will enjoy it as much as we did writing this! We really gave our hearts for this!  
> This fic will be updated every Sunday from now on!  
> Have some cookies, snuggle yourselves in a blanket and enjoy reading this!  
> Love and hugs,  
> Caro

Peter moved his legs in a smooth motion, it seemed almost as if his feet did not touch the ground anymore.  
The dark room was only illuminated by the moonlight that shined through the large windows and was reflected by the long wall of mirrors on the other side. The whole building fell silent hours ago, and even now, there was barely any sound. Still, Peter was dancing.

The melody he gracefully moved to was only audible for him through his earbuds. His eyes were closed, he did not need to see the room to know where he was moving.  
  


Three years. He spent three years here at the Royal Ballet School of London, he had gone through his Upper School training in these years that was meant to prepare him for a career in professional dancing, ballet specifically. He felt like he knew everything in here, the smell, the sleek surface of the ground that he always danced on, the little crack above the window on the left corner of this room. Details he grew to hate when a training session just did not work at all, details he sometimes just loved on long summer days when every movement he made was on point and he could leave the building with a pleasant feeling.

Peter knew he had to move on to develop, and he would, but he wanted to dance here for one last time. Without any curious looks or time and energy consuming talks with people that wanted to say goodbye and wish him luck. He did not have all too many friends on this school, there were just so many just focussing on their work and not on something like a private life, but he surely made himself a name here.

Right now though, he wanted to drown in the music, get lost in the rhythm and just…dance.  
  


Since he was a child he loved to dance, his aunt May who raised him had always supported him and so he ended up in training classes early, getting better with each year. Some described him as a natural talent, others did never miss to make May feel like she was mistreating the poor boy that “definitely worked much too hard for his age”. For Peter it never was too much. To him, dancing was like breaking free from everything else. His mind created a whole new world just for himself when he focused on the music. What he loved most about dancing was the fact that anyone could do it, no matter where in the world you would be, people loved to dance. It was like a language every human was able to speak.

So, it would be alright to practically leave the continent, right? Peter's concentration was lost as soon as this thought came up.

His pirouette came to a sudden end and he sighed. He was happy and more than excited about what was to come. Still, it meant he would leave this place, his home, and just everything behind. His heart felt heavy and sad when thinking about this. God, he would even leave May behind. Of course, there would be visits and calls and the full “my poor Baby is abroad”-package…but all that would never feel like actually being HOME. He took the earbuds off and walked over to the window, his skin looking so much paler in moonlight. “I can do that...this will be great”, he whispered to himself, almost like he still needed to convince himself of it.

-

The shrieking sound of his alarm made him regret every decision Past-Peter made last night. Why again did the think it would be such an amazing idea to go back to his ballet school in the middle of the night just to have some kind of a farewell-dance when he was meant to be up and ready for his flight just four hours later? He pressed his face into the pillow for a moment. Or two. Maybe even three. His alarm sounded so much angrier this time, so his ‘moment’ had been too long without a doubt.

He got himself out of the bed, his hair was a curly brown mess and he still had a pattern of his pillow on the side of his face. He tried to be as quick as possible with getting ready. The fact that his Uber had to wait for at least 20 minutes proved to him that he obviously failed. He grabbed his two suitcases – damnit, his whole life in two suitcases – and carried them down, one after another. Luckily, his Uber driver did not care at all about him being late and so the drive to the airport was comfortable.

A quick glance on his watch. Soon he would have to change the time on it. Soon he would be in New York, for a completely new start. The nervousness kicked in with full force, making him feel excited like a kid on Christmas and nauseous at the same time. About 10 hours later, he would be in New York for his new life.

-

Life is full of lessons. Peter remembered May often saying this after bad things happened and now, after being in New York for half a year, he felt like he should tattoo that sentence on his forehead because he truly understood the meaning by now. Going to New York, that big shiny city that never sleeps, had been a dream. He barely spent any time in his new home, a really tiny flat in one of those typical red brick row houses of Queens. He’d seen the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, he walked through Central Park and got overwhelmed by all the skyscrapers. Not that London was just a small village, but New York was something else.

Peter quickly grew to love the smaller cafés and book stores, the little cosy restaurants that were almost hidden in corners. That made him feel a lot more grounded, not as if he could easily be devoured by the giant town. But shortly after arriving in New York, he learned his first lesson. It is much more expensive than he thought. He had been prepared for the amount of rent, he also knew the living costs would be higher, but after buying groceries and all the stuff he could need he almost choked on the price he had to pay. Lesson number two came on the same day. This city was much more…anonymous. Neighbours did not care to know who he was and they did not want him to care about their business.

With a sigh Peter dropped down on his bed at that night. “It’s just all new…it’s not too much…you can do this”, he told himself and ruffled his hair. He would probably end up talking way too much to himself if he did not make any friends here soon. He got up again, showered, ate a little dinner and sat on the Couch, watching some TV while browsing through the internet. He had to find a job, his savings would last for a while, but not forever. Especially not with how expensive everything was. He wondered if he could be a waiter. He had a good sense of balance and was not clumsy, but he never worked in a restaurant or anything like that before. He chewed on his bottom lip, scrolling through the almost endless page of jobs listed.

His heart jumped as he saw that a small dancing school was looking for a ballet teacher. His fingers trembled as he typed in the phone number and pressed the green button. _This has to work, god please let this work._

“Merilane’s Dancing School, Evelyn Merilane speaking, how can I help you?”, a soft woman’s voice said in the politest tone. Peter had to control his grin. “Good evening, Miss Merilane, I am Peter Parker and I really want to work for you!”, the words just spouted out of his mouth with excitement and for a second, it was silent on the other side before the woman softly chuckled. “You do? I think you are referring to the ballet teacher I am looking for? How about you come to my studio tomorrow at…11 am? Would that be alright? Then we can see if it fits or not.”

Peter’s heart made a flip of joy and he immediately agreed to be there. This would be the perfect job for him and he would even be able to train on his own abilities. The first auditions for his career would be coming soon and he definitely needed to be in his best shape for it.

After the call ended, Peter dropped on his bed again, this time with a much better feeling, that allowed him to drift off to sleep right away.


	2. A change is as good as a rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a single dad with a busy career, Tony feels incredibly guilty for not always being there for his daughter, but there might just be something that brings them closer, and brings them closer to someone who could change both their lives for the better..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday darlings!
> 
> It's so exciting to be sharing the next chapter of this story with you, it's been so so dun writing this, and an honour and a privilige to be able to do so with my best friend and soupmate! 
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, please feel free to let us know 😁
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left feedback on the first chapter, it's very much appreciated! 💛❤️
> 
> \- Liv

"Five minutes, princess."

"Okay!"

Heading away from the door and back into the kitchen, Tony quickly fixed up his blue tie before smoothing out his suit, sighing at the slight crease in the jacket.

There was a pile of laundry sitting in a wicker basket by the washing machine, silently reminding Tony he'd forgotten to do it last night like he'd told himself he would.

Making a mental note to remind himself to do it later, Tony went to get Morgan's pink unicorn lunch bag, cursing under his breath as he realised he'd forgotten to get any groceries, grabbing a slightly soft apple and quickly throwing some peanut butter on the last two slices of bread.

"Daddy?"

Turning around, Tony found his daughter sorting through the wash basket, a frown on her face.

"I can't find my yellow sweater," The six-year-old turned to her father. "I thought you said you'd wash it?"

"I know, honey," Tony sighed, guilt sinking into him. "I meant to, but I had to work late last night and I forgot about it. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," The brunette smiled softly, if not totally convincingly, adding to Tony's guilt. "I can wear something else."

"Alright," Tony nodded, running a hand through his hair. "two minutes and we have to go."

Once Morgan had gone back to her room Tony quickly rooted around the cabinets, finding a granola bar and adding it to her lunch before heading to the dining room and gathering up the loose mass of papers and files. 

He'd tried to cut back on taking so much work home, but they'd landed a huge case and Tony couldn't shirk his share of the workload. Even so, he'd been spending most nights staying up past midnight, more often than not waking up in the middle of the night, still sitting at the table. 

Gathering up everything and throwing it into his laptop bag, Tony headed back out to the kitchen and found Morgan down in the living room putting on her shoes. 

"Ready to go, sweetheart?" Tony asked, picking up Morgan's lunch bag from the counter and walking over to the girl. 

"Yeah," The brunette nodded, sliding down from the couch and fixing her simple ponytail. "is Aunt Pepper picking me up from school again today?" 

"I'm not sure yet," Tony gently took his daughter's hand, giving it a soft squeeze. "I'll try to finish earlier so I can pick you up myself." 

"Okay," Morgan smiled softly, gently squeezing Tony's hand back. "I hope so."

"Me too, sweetheart." Tony sighed, the two of them heading out of the house.

-

"I'll be back in a minute," Tony nodded across the desk at Rhodey, the other man smiling softly as Tony stood. "just need to make a call."  
  
"Take your time."   
  
Heading outside, Tony took his phone from his pocket, bringing up Pepper's number before pressing his phone to his ear, watching the sun begin it's descent.   
  
"Hey, it's me," Tony smiled softly. "I hate to ask but could you pick Morgan up from school again? It's gonna be a late one."   
  
"Of course, no problem at all," Pepper's tone was warmer than Tony deserved. "I'll be there."   
  
"You're an angel, Pep," Tony sighed, running a hand over his face. "I'll try to be home before ten."   
  
"Well I'm happy to look after her in the meantime, don't worry about a thing."   
  
Once he'd hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket, Tony took a breath before heading back onto the office, the last of the sun's rays warming his back.   
  
\-   
  
"Sorry I'm late," Tony dropped his laptop bag down on the couch, stooping down and giving Pepper a kiss on the cheek, the blonde lightly squeezing his arm as he pulled away. "time got away from us."   
  
"So I see," His friend smiled gently, setting her bookmark between the pages of the novel in her hands and setting it down beside her. "tough case?"   
  
"You better believe it," Tony nodded, walking over to the kitchen as Pepper followed. "I still have more to do, so I'm just gonna drop in on Morgan and then I'll make a st-"   
  
"No, you won't." Pepper raised an eyebrow, folding her arms. "You're going to go check in on your daughter and then you're going to eat the dinner I made for you and then you need to go to bed. No arguments." The blonde held up a manicured hand, Tony nodding and heading down the hall.   
  
Morgan's door was ajar, a soft light luminating from the pink star-shaped night light by her bed.   
  
"Hey," Tony whispered softly, entering the room and gently crossing the carpeted floor to the sleeping girl. "sorry I'm late again, princess. I'll make it up to you, I promise."   
  
Placing a soft kiss on her forehead, Tony gently pulled the blanket back over her shoulders, the girl letting out a soft sigh as Tony left the room, gently closing the door behind him and returning to Pepper.   
  
"Sit." The blonde gestured to the island, a knife and fork placed on a white napkin, a glass of water beside them.   
  
"You don't have to do this you know." Tony raised an eyebrow, sitting down and running a hand through his hair.   
  
"I also didn't have to get groceries, do your laundry and help Morgan with her homework," The blonde dished some pasta onto a plate, walking over to the man and setting it down. "but that's what friends are for."   
  
"Thank you, Pep." Tony nodded, too tired to conjure up any more sentiment.   
  
As Tony ate, Pepper cleaned the kitchen, unintentionally adding to Tony's guilt.   
  
"Oh," The blonde peeled off the yellow rubber gloves on her hands, laying them by the sink. "I forgot to tell you, Morgan was telling me that she wants to start taking ballet classes, has she said anything to you about that?"   
  
"No," Tony shook his head. "she hasn't said anything."

_'Because you're never here for her to talk to, are you?'_   
  
"I think some of the other girls in her class are taking classes, maybe she could..make some new friends."   
  
"It's certainly a nice idea," Tony smiled, setting down his fork. "but I wouldn't know where to start with something like that."   
  
"I can do some research for you, send you on some information." Pepper smiled, and Tony once again wondered what he ever did to deserve such a friend.   
  
"Only if it's not too much trouble."   
  
"Absolutely not," The blonde shook her head, pouring a glass of water and moving to sit across from Tony. "I'm sure I'll find somewhere good." 


	3. The First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day in the dancing school. But with a new student - Morgan Stark.  
> And with her, someone else comes into Peter's life too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you endlessly for everyone who read this, leave kudos, a comment, a bookmark or anything.   
> We love you and we hope you enjoy this new chapter!
> 
> A big sunday hug and kisses for all of you!  
> -Caro

“My Mom brought some muffins!”, the little blonde girl with the slightly crooked teeth announced. Peter raised an eyebrow and smiled softly. “She did? That’s so kind of her”, he replied politely. _She just tries to make me put you in the leading role for the recital_ , he thought. That was of course nothing he could tell a six-year-old girl. Some mothers just chose to not even be subtle about their intentions. Peter hated to see when parents forced their ambitions of always winning on their kids. Why could the sweet little ballet dancer in the third row not be as appreciated as the girl in the front? They all put so much effort in it.

The only reason Peter grabbed one of these bribery-muffins was that he was almost starving. He didn’t have time for breakfast today; having an early audition, where the people thought letting the dancers wait for five hours just to let them audition for five minutes was a great idea, that just sucked. He barely made it to his other audition and so lunch was cancelled too. His stomach was grumbling angrily now. He took a huge bite of the brown muffin and then paused; his mouth still full.

The consistency was… how could Peter put it in a friendly way? As dry as dust. He felt like he had just taken a spoon of cinnamon. He was just about to spit it all out like people in those challenge videos but…he couldn’t. He was in a room full of kids and some mothers were also here, watching their kids putting on their ballet shoes. Peter was on the verge of just swallowing whatever this was just out of politeness, but he couldn’t. His throat refused to, threatening him to end this situation with a little gagging reflex.

Peter quickly turned around, trying hard not to choke on the dry mass of whatever this was meant to be. He acted as if he just had to go outside and ran down the street a bit to spit that stuff into a dumpster. Did anyone care? No, bloody hell he was in New York and now he was happy about that fact. He took a deep breath, promising his poor mouth to rinse it out with water to get rid off the taste. Maybe that mother did not want to convince him to put her daughter in the front row, maybe she was already at the point of killing him because he refused to put her there?

Walking back inside he quickly grabbed his water and drank it. The kids were all ready to start the lesson as another woman entered the Dancing School. Peter looked at her and could tell she was big in business. Her dress alone was probably worth more than his whole flat. Her shoes alone could easily pay his rent for some months. Her hair looked blonde but there was a tinge of red, like copper in it. Her lips were red and she just appeared graceful with every movement. As beautiful as she was, Peter already saw the trouble coming. Rich business Moms were the worst. They often had such unreasonably high images of what their children were supposed to achieve here.

Putting all these assumptions aside, he walked over to here and greeted her with the most gorgeous smile he had to offer. “Welcome to Merilane’s Dancing School, I am Peter Parker and…you are?”, he smiled at the brown-haired cute girl on the woman’s side that chose to hide a bit behind her as she was spoken to.

“I am Pepper Potts…this is Morgan Stark…I talked to Miss Merilane on the phone and she told me there was still a possibility to integrate her in the ballet class?”, she said and sounded as formal as she looked. Peter nodded. “Of course, I would be pleased to teach Morgan”, he said and tried to make eye contact with the little girl, but she was still hiding.

Pepper crouched down to meet her on eye level. “Okay…Morgan…you wanted to try some ballet, right? Here you can do that…I am so sure it will be pure fun for you”, she promised reassuringly and gently stroked over the girl’s cheek. “Daddy will pick you up later…how about you show him then what you already learned? He will be so impressed”, she smiled to encourage the girl and that obviously worked because Morgan now smiled brightly. “Yes!! I do that!”, she said and walked to Peter and stood right in front of him, looking as confident as a six-year-old could be. “Teach me everything!”, she said and Peter had to grin. “I will, promised. We will impress the hell out of your Daddy, will we?”

Peter took her hand and as Pepper waved goodbye, he took her to the other girls. “This is Morgan, she will now be a part of our little family here, okay?”, he announced and Morgan looked quite proud to be holding the teacher’s hand. “Okay honey, we will put on some ballet shoes on your feet and then we start!”, Peter went to the storage room in the back where they always had some shoes for those who did not bring their own and handed them to Morgan.

The lesson started like usual, Peter made some warm-ups with them, always making sure they would have the most fun possible. Sometimes the warm up would be playing tag, sometimes it was making impressions of different animals with as much body movement as possible. After all, even though this was a serious ballet class, Peter never forgot that these were children and he thought they should be allowed to act like children. Most of them could focus much better after being allowed to be crazy for some minutes. Morgan however was a bit shy about all that. She often looked at what the others did and stood a little aside. Whenever Peter looked at her, she smiled and tried to participate but he noticed that she wasn’t so sure of things as soon as he focused on the others.

“Alright girls…we’ll start with some basic positions again…”, Peter announced and the girls walked over to the bar on the wall that allowed them to have some support in holding positions. “I will show you what to do, yes?”, Peter said to Morgan and guided her to the bar. “Hold onto this…and then you turn to me..”, he explained and stood in front of them, facing the girls. Okay…first position”, he said and all the girls moved their feet into a (mostly) perfect line, their heels together, their toes pointed out towards either side, legs straight and turned out like their feet. Morgan looked at what the girls did, then looking at Peter doing the same position and tried it herself. It was much more difficult then it looked and she was more than thankful she could stabilize herself with that bar.

“Look at you…such a natural talent, Morgan!”, Peter smiled and made the girl blush. They continued, going through all the five basic positions in a slow pace so everyone could follow…Peter helped them having the right posture or adjusted their feet into the right positions. All that with as much patience and love he could bring up. He loved to dance, loved the music and he wanted the girls to enjoy it, not feel like they had to go through an hour of torturing.

With every new position that Morgan learned, the girl seemed to open up. At least to Peter, he praised her and just gave her so much attention.

The time flew, making Peter feel like he just started the lesson as it was already ending again. “You all did AMAZING, girls, next lesson we will focus on the choreography for our recital”, he announced. Some parents were already waiting on the side for their children and clapped their hands. Peter smiled at them and the kids ran over to them. Morgan smiled at Peter and hesitated a second before she hugged his legs, only for some seconds, but it melted Peters’ heart.

“That was so much fun”, she mumbled with cheeks blushed of excitement and Peter crouched down to her. “You know what? I had the most fun today too…Thanks for coming here…you are my little ballet princess now”, he grinned and Morgan looked down to the ground with a bright smile. Her head shot up as she heard her father calling her name. Peter looked up too, freezing instantly in his position.

The man that just walked in was not just handsome…that man was the image of perfection. He was wearing a business suit, clearly expensive, he had brown hair, styled so attractively that you just wanted to bury your hands in it, deep chocolate brown eyes and a neatly trimmed goatee that framed his face perfectly. This man had the perfect shoulder to hip ratio that made him look like a tall, strong knight.

Peter bit his lip and slowly got up from his crouching position. He should stop imagining this man as a knight in shining armour who just rode into this studio on a white horse. But he failed. Morgan was excitedly talking to her father and Peter gulped hard. He tried to think of something to say, the obvious things like “Hey” or “Good evening” just didn’t seem to fit when meeting such a man. He wished he could say something to impress him. He straightened his pose and was still in the middle of nervously searching for the right words as he noticed Morgan was pulling her father closer to Peter to introduce them to each other. Peter’s mouth went dry and his heart stopped as their eyes locked.

“This is Peter, Daddy! He is the best teacher in the world!”, Morgan announced with a smile.

Peter smiled, still in loss of words and held up a hand for Tony. “I am teacher…I-I mean I am Peter…Parker. Peter Parker…”, he stammered.

_Well done, Peter. That was impressive,_ he thought and wished for a hole to open in the ground so he could disappear in it.


	4. From the mouths of babes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since meeting Peter, Tony can't seem to get the man off his mind, as Morgan will attest..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Sunday and another chapter! As always it's a pleasure to share this story with you all, we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we have writing it 😁
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has commented, left kudos, and bookmarked/subscribed, it means the world to us and we're so grateful 💛❤️
> 
> \- Liv

Nice to meet you, Peter Parker," Tony smiled, gently taking the younger man's soft hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting go, somewhat reluctantly. "or should I say the best teacher in the world?" 

"Oh,” Peter blushed slightly, a small smile tugging on his lips. “I wouldn't say..”

"He is, daddy," Morgan nodded, clinging onto Tony's hand. "I love him."

"High praise indeed," Tony raised an eyebrow, enjoying the blush on Peter's face. "why don't you get your coat, princess?" 

"Okay, daddy." Morgan smiled, letting go of his hand and heading over to the wall by the front door where various coats and schoolbags were clumped together.

"She's not usually so friendly with people," Tony smiled over at his daughter before looking back at the young man in front of him. "I'm impressed."

"Yes, she seemed a little shy," Peter nodded, holding his hands in front of his body gracefully. "but I think she could really come out of her shell if she keeps coming here, she's a natural."

"That's good to know," Tony smiled, his heart swelling with pride. "I didn't even know she wanted to take ballet lessons, I must say I'm beginning to regret not taking her sooner."

"Well it's never too late to start." Peter smiled, his face lighting up, Tony forcing himself to look away, hesitant of making the younger man uncomfortable by staring at him. 

"Ready, daddy." Morgan joined them once more, slipping her light blue school bag on her shoulders and taking Tony's hand. 

"Alright, we better get going," Tony nodded, smiling down at his daughter before looking over to the man before him. "nice meeting you, Peter," 

"Bye Peter," Morgan gave a cute wave, a beaming smile on her face. "see you soon."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Stark," Peter licked his bottom lip slightly, smiling as he crouched down to Morgan's level. "see you soon Morgan, you did great today." 

Ignoring the not so subtle glares and whispers from the mothers gathered by the door, Tony scooped Morgan up into his arms, smiling as he carried the girl out to the car. 

-

"Why don't you go and get changed while I start dinner, sweetheart," Tony smiled, closing the front door behind them. 

"Can I keep this on? I love it." Morgan gestured to her pink leotard and white tights, a cute pout on her face. 

"Well you don't want to spill something on it," Tony countered kindly. "why don't you put on something else and we'll get it washed for your next class."

"Mm..'kay." Morgan nodded, skipping off to her room. 

-

Morgan's new ballet class, or more specifically, her new ballet teacher seemed to be the girl's favourite subject. 

Tony couldn't help but feel proud, Morgan had always been a shy, introverted girl, and maybe this class was a thing to help her make some new friends, become a little more social. 

She'd certainly taken a shine to Peter, anyway. Not that Tony could blame her, the man was certainly..very nice, and he seemed to have a good rapport with Morgan, and maybe, just maybe, he had a British accent that made Tony a little weak in the knees, but that wasn't important. 

By the time Tony had gotten Morgan tucked up in bed, dinner eaten, homework done, bathed, and story read (and re-read, he couldn't say no when she brought out the puppy eyes) he was exhausted, but he had a pile of work waiting for him in the living room, just to complete his Friday night. 

"Goodnight, princess," Tony whispered softly, placing a kiss to the girl's forehead. "I love you." 

"Love you too daddy." Morgan yawned, cuddling her soft pink spider plushie. 

-

By midnight, Tony couldn't keep his eyes open, running a hand over his face as he sat up on the couch, setting his laptop down on the coffee table. 

He'd made plans to meet Pepper the next day for breakfast and take Morgan to the park, the last thing he needed was to be too exhausted for it. 

Flicking off the lights, Tony headed down the hall and into his bedroom, leaning against the door for a minute before getting changed into some sweatpants and an old college sweater, crashing into bed. 

-

"So Morgan," Pepper smiled, across the table at the girl, picking up her cup of coffee. "how did your first class go?" 

"Was good," Morgan nodded, looking up from her plate of pancakes. "my teacher is really nice." 

"She was singing his praises all evening," Tony smiled. "isn't that right, princess?" 

Morgan blushed slightly, Tony grinning at the blonde opposite them. 

"He seemed very nice when I met him," Pepper smiled. "what did you think, Tony?" 

"Yes," Tony nodded, possibly a little too quickly judging by the slight quirk of Pepper's brow. "very..nice."

-

A little later on, when Pepper and Tony were walking through the park, Morgan holding Tony’s hand and gently licking the strawberry ice cream in her other hand (he knew he shouldn’t really be giving her an ice cream so soon after she’d eaten but he had a sizeable portion of his heart dedicated to guilt when it came to his daughter), the blonde turned to him, a curious look on her face.

“I meant to ask, how have things been going for you lately?”

“Oh, fine,” Tony nodded, knowing the dark shadows under his eyes were betraying his words. “work is hectic as ever but ot-”

“No, no,” Pepper shook her head, looking ahead of her as they walked, a gentle breeze brushing past them. “I was talking about more..” She lowered her voice slightly, though Morgan was far too occupied with her ice cream to care about what they were saying. “personal matters. I don’t mean to pry but when was the last time you even went out on a date?”

“It wasn’t that long ago,” Tony sighed, though he couldn’t remember the last time he’d so much as had a cup of coffee with someone that wasn’t strictly a friend. “anyway, I don’t have time for dating.”

“Mm.” Pepper pursed her lips slightly, Tony rolling his eyes.

“Don’t think I don’t know what that means, Pep.” 

“I could set you up with someone, since you’re too stubborn to just ask someone out yourself.” The blonde suggested, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m just..” Tony sighed, clearing his throat. “not really interested in anyone right now, I have other priorities.” 

As if on cue, Morgan gently tugged Tony’s hand, drawing the man’s attention.

“Finished.” The girl smiled, holding up the wooden stick from her ice cream. 

“Okay sweetheart, let’s find a trash can.” Tony smiled, relieved to have a break from Pepper’s matchmaking as they continued walking, eventually coming across a green trash can, Morgan dropping in the discarded stick.

“Just promise me you’ll think about it.” Pepper raised an eyebrow, looking over at Tony as he scooped his daughter into his arms, the girl raising an eyebrow.

“Think ‘bout what?”

“Noth-”

“Daddy wants to make a new friend, darling.” Pepper smiled, Tony trying not to roll his eyes.

“Oh,” Morgan nodded, a smile forming on her face. “like Peter?”

The look on Pepper’s face didn’t go unnoticed, Tony would know that smirk anywhere.

“Uh,” The man cleared his throat, pushing down the heat that threatened to creep up his neck. “not..unlike Peter.”

Pepper grinned triumphantly. "I bet."


	5. A special card

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter struggles with his career plans and Morgan takes matters in her hands!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovely sweethearts!  
> I am so happy you are still reading this and I am so happy I can still post stuff that I wrote with my one and only keenwonderlandcollector!  
> I hope you all have a lovely sunday :)  
> Enjoy!

Peter was dressed to the nines. He wore a dark red suit, his hair gelled, he had a glass of champagne in his left hand. Just from his look, he fit into this crowd of people. Still, he felt like being all alone. He watched the women in beautiful gowns, the men in their tuxedos and formal suits. They were chatting, laughing, drinking. Showing off their jewellery, or their status, talking about their stocks or cottages at the beach or whatever.

Peter knew he should be thankful to have an invitation to such an event. He knew he should put a smile on his face and make some contacts. These were the people that could help him establish a career in ballet. His old school, back in London, organised that he would get an invitation to this event, to help him start off. They had no doubt Peter could make a great career and…for a while, Peter did not have any doubt on this too.

But tonight…he was filled with doubt. He suddenly did not feel like a part of this world…He did have a few conversations and the first question was always “Oh really? Where did you dance? Do we know you? Which stage are you on?”

He was a no one here…and he hadn’t been on a stage since he arrived in New York. His only stage was the ballet room in the little dance school, with only a bunch of six-year-olds watching him. He had so many rejections from all the auditions by now that he really wondered if he was just not talented enough. Or was it just this town that refused to accept him?

Slowly, Peter walked to the balcony that offered a fantastic view over all those city lights. He emptied his glass and looked down. Why couldn’t he just make anything work here? Did he really overestimate himself for so long?

He shook his head and took in a deep breath. He knew what would happen if he couldn’t make it here. He would have to go back home…would have to live with everyone knowing he was not good enough at what he always wanted to do in his life. Of course, he knew it was too early. Maybe…this all just needed a bit more time. Some more months…

“Just get yourself together…”, Peter told himself, nodded and then went back inside. He just needed to smile, to shake some more hands and to somehow convince people he was a good ballet dancer…he had what it took to be on the biggest stages. He tried hard to convince everyone, most of all himself.

-

Evelyn looked at Peter, smiling softly and holding out some coffee for him. Peter usually liked tea more, but he wouldn’t refuse a nice gesture of his boss. She could tell something was wrong as soon as Peter entered the school. His usual smile was missing, the wave of enthusiasm he brought into every room whenever he entered it. Maybe something was wrong, or his night was just way too short, considering the soft shadows under his eyes. Evelyn knew that Peter was invited to an important event the previous night.

“Thank you…was a long night”, he apologized and took a sip of the coffee.

“I can imagine…it was a big event...”, she said, sitting down next to Peter. He was not excited when talking about all the people he met, about offers or chances that presented to him now…that could only mean it wasn’t as successful as Peter hoped it would be. She gently squeezed his shoulder.

“You know…so many people come to this town, with big hopes and dreams…and they all learn the same thing…it takes a lot of work and a lot of time…but if you believe in it…it will work out well.”

“You are absolutely right..”, Peter smiled and looked at her. “I guess this event just drew me down…but..it was just an event. It’s not all that matters”, Peter got up and took another sip of the coffee in his hand. A bit too strong for his liking, but maybe just the right thing to really wake him up. Evelyn watched him and got up again. She still had paperwork to do and was more than thankful Peter took the whole organisation for the upcoming show in his hands.

Peter went to the back of the dancing school, the room was not too big, with some little windows to the back of the building – giving an amazing view of an empty backyard. Not the best view but still…Peter enjoyed to be in here. The lights had a warm tone, giving this room an atmosphere Peter found hard to describe. It just felt cosy, somehow. The huge picture of all the little girls that once visited this school on the wall was just an adorable bonus.

There was a huge table, able to fit twelve people easily. But right now, the table was buried under hundreds of pieces of fabric in various colours, there was shiny stuff, glittery stuff, different types of fabric. Just everything to work with if you had the creativity and the craftsmanship to do something with it. The sewing machine was in the corner, a bit of dust on it. Peter rolled up his sleeves. He had to bring some sort of order in this and then work on the costumes.

All the girls had basic ballet dresses in a neutral colour. And these now needed some…upgrade. He started sorting the fabric by colour, enjoying the different textures and losing himself in ideas how the girls could look at the show. He wanted to create something that fit to the topic.

After all, he had made this choreography, he chose the story they would tell with their sweet little dance. Evelyn chose the song they would dance to – Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Peter made up a story for it, a way the girls could show their talent and enjoy it to the fullest. He would definitely make them all look like the sweetest fairies anyone had ever seen.

It took away all the remaining negative thoughts to add colourful and sparkly parts to the soon fairy-like costumes and he had to smile. These girls would feel so proud, so pretty and special when having their show…for a child it meant so much to show what it learned and hopefully look into a crowd of smiling people.

Looking at his first results he sighed and chuckled then. “I definitely need more YouTube tutorials…this is not going to be the final version…”

With a quick glance to the clock he continued his work. There was still some time left before the ballet class would begin, enough to come up with more ideas how to make these costumes as perfect as each of the girls he was teaching. Today – and in the next lessons - they would solely focus on their choreography, work on the details, use the music they would have to dance to on their big day.

And Peter had to figure out how to fit in Morgan into the whole show, the last thing he wanted was to put her under pressure. He would ask her later on, if she felt like participating already or not. At the end of the day, she just joined them and would have to learn the choreography a lot faster if she wanted to be a part of it. The last thing he wanted was to stress her out so she maybe would even lose her interest in ballet.

-

All of Peter’s worries of the previous night, all the doubts if it really was the right choice to come here and try building his career abroad were gone after not more than ten minutes of the ballet class.

The pure joy these kids showed brightened up his mood easily. With them, it was just so easy. They loved to see him dance, admired his movements as if they were the most incredible thing they ever witnessed. It reminded Peter that he genuinely loved to dance. That all those critical grumpy faces of old judges during stressful auditions would never be able to ruin his love for what he did. He just had to keep the joy he always felt when being in his ‘own little world' of ballet dancing.

The kids were more than excited to work on their show dance. Finally, all the little training sessions, the different foot positions or flexibility and balance exercises would make sense – each one of them put together to a flowing movement, a sweet, graceful dance. Peter loved to see how all the effort his little ‘students' put in their lessons now paid off.

Including Morgan into the choreography – of course she wanted to be part of it - was much easier than Peter thought. Obviously, the little girl was really eager to learn everything she needed to, offering to practise every hour of her day. Peter smiled, loving how excited she was.

After the lessons, all the girls were picked up one by one. Peter sat down, drinking some water and smiling at every parent, waving happily to each little girl. Morgan sat down next to him, smiling with blushed cheeks. “That was so much fun today!”, she smiled and dangled her legs.

“Who is going to pick you up?”, Peter asked, as everyone else was gone now. “Daddy will pick me up! He comes soon…maybe he works longer today”, she shrugged but still kept the smile on her face. “Sometimes he does that…he does not have enough friends to hang out with so he hangs out with work…”, she concluded, making Peter chuckle. “Well..if that is true…he is pretty lucky to have YOU at least”, he smiled and gently brushed back her hair.

“So…as we have to wait a little longer then…what do you think? You feel like helping me with the costumes?”, Peter grinned and Morgan’s eyes widened, she beamed at him and nodded so wild that Peter laughed. “That is a clear yes…alright, come.”

They went to the back of the school where Peter had spread all the costumes and together with Morgan, he started to work on them again. When it was his turn to work with the sewing machine, Morgan turned to draw something on paper, decorating it with some of the glitter fabric that she glued on it.

The time passed quick, both of them not even noticing how late it was when they started a little “fabric fight”, throwing the pieces of fabric at each other, laughing as they were all covered in it. They had glitter on their faces, looked like a real mess, as they heard someone clearing his throat. Peter looked up, expecting to see Evelyn but his eyes widening in shock as he realised it was Morgan’s father. He quickly grabbed for the fabric on his head and pulled it off.

“Oh…hey…we..didn’t hear you coming in”, he smiled apologetically and Morgan beamed, running to Tony and hugging him tight. “We just had a fabric fight, Daddy! And I will be in the show! I will be a real fairy!”, she babbled excitedly. Tony gently caressed her glittery cheek and then looked at Peter.

“Thank you for taking such…”, he looked around in the messy room, confused but amused about what they had been doing here, “such good care…I was stuck at work and could not leave at the time I wanted to. It will not happen again…my apologies”, he declared honestly.

“It’s okay…I would have been here longer anyways…working on costumes...and stuff”, he smiled, feeling his throat dry and his heart beating so fast.

“Alright, little fairy, time to fly home”, Tony grinned and got Morgan into his arms, turning to leave the room. Peter wanted to follow, accompanying them to the door as he noticed the paper card Morgan had worked on.

The card said: FOR PETER….You want to be Daddys new best friend? Yes, No or Maybe.

Peter had to smile…Morgan really was a little angel. He quickly grabbed a pen, marked his answer with a cross and then followed Tony and Morgan to the door.

“Hey fairy…don’t forget your card”, he smiled and gave it back to Morgan before they left the school.

“Have a nice evening, Morgan…and you too…Mr. Stark!”, he waved at them and blushed a bit. This man really did something with him…

Moving as if he was light like a feather, Peter almost danced back to the room to clean up his mess.


End file.
